


Tired

by moonmoth (greyvvardenfell)



Series: Fictober 2019 [23]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23571916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyvvardenfell/pseuds/moonmoth
Summary: Julian realizes that, for the first time since he lost the Hanged Man's mark, he's tired.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak
Series: Fictober 2019 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696495
Kudos: 7





	Tired

**Author's Note:**

> For the Fictober prompt: "Change is annoyingly difficult."

These letters are swimming. I’m almost positive they’re not supposed to do that. They’re wiggling around the page like worms. Or leeches. Yes, much more like leeches. I should check on my little collection when I— nope, no, focus. You can see them from here and they’re fine. Stuck to their bottles like, well, like leeches. Just as they should be.

Oh, god, how many times have I read this same sentence? “Patient presented with swollen lymph nodes and persistent cough…” P-e-r-s… Is ‘persistent’ spelled with an E or an A at the end? For some reason, it doesn’t look right. Reyja would know. But she’s at home, like I should be. Ahhh, curled up all cozy and warm, kissing her, holding her… damn it, Julian! Pay attention!

“Patient presented with swollen lymph nodes and persistent cough.” Persist-ant? No, persistent. Well? Damn these leech-letters. This didn’t used to happen. I could power through charts like a… like a… powerful thing. Oho, like a pregnant war elephant! Whoever needed help, whenever they called. Is it me? Is there something in the air? Is it the— oh. Oh.

Well, shit.

I’m tired. That’s what this damn heavy-eyed, limb-dragging, bone-weariness is. My body wants to, no, needs to sleep. Ah, it’s been a long time since I had to worry about that, hasn’t it? Years. First the plague, then the curse — sorry, love, I know you don’t like when I call it that: the “sigil” from the Hanged Man — and being on the run, then the to-do with the Devil… this really is the first time my, erm, bad habit of putting off that particular function is catching up with me. Hmm. After all, it’s much less fun when it feels like a waste of time and you’ve got nowhere safe to do it.

Sleep. What a funny thing to miss. I suppose it makes sense, though, why that need wants to resurface now. And it’s a good thing. Ha! A very good thing indeed! Oh, my darling, it means we’ve done it. Whatever else we’ll face in the future, right now everything’s peachy keen. Hunky-dory. Top-shelf supreme and superlative, in fact. I can relax! Me!

Oh, the rest of these charts will be here tomorrow. “Patient presented with swollen lymph nodes and persistent cough…” and I gave him eucalypt oil and sent him home. There. T’s dotted, I’s crossed. Not much else to do for a cold but wait for it to pass. I should refile this but, ahh, my dearest awaits and I? I am tired!

——

Julian burst through the door of the shop like the guards were on his tail again, startling Reyja and making her choke on the gulp of water she’d just swallowed. She coughed and sputtered, wiping the dribbles from her chin as he scuttled over to her, spouting apologies.

“I’m okay, Jul, honestly!” she wheezed after a moment, waving him off. “I just wasn’t expecting you to barge in like that. What has you so excited, huh?”

His eyes lingered over her before darting to her face, a broad grin blossoming over his own. “Darling, I’m tired!”

The announcement didn’t land with the impact he expected. Reyja stared at him, perplexed, and slowly set her water glass down on the counter. “Um. Okay? Me… too?”

Julian shook his head impatiently and took her hands over the smooth glass surface of the shop’s main transaction space. “Reyja, don’t you see? It’s only been—” He glanced at the clock over the doorway to the back room, a recent gift from Nadia. “—fifteen hours since I last slept! And I could sleep again!”

“Riiight.” She squeezed his hands, peering closely at him to make sure his pupils were normal-sized and he wasn’t any paler than usual. “I’m with you so far, Juley, but, uh, I guess I’m not getting what makes this different.”

“It’s different for me, love! The last time I had a normal sleep pattern, I was, oh, your age? Younger? Come to think of it, I don’t know that I’ve truly felt tired when I was supposed to feel tired since I lived in Nevivon.”

“Is there a specific time of day one is supposed to feel tired?”

“Ahh, you know what I mean. Don’t you?”

Reyja smiled and rubbed her thumbs over the backs of his hands. “I’m just teasing you, ‘Bee. That’s great! Is it because your sigil’s gone?”

“I do love when you call it that, my dear. ‘Sigil’ is such a nicer word than ‘curse.’ But, ah, I’m not sure. I mean, certainly it’s more than partially responsible, but the stability we’ve had since, well, since the Masquerade ended and…”

“And you moved in here?”

He leaned over the counter, grinning dreamily. “And there’s no more imminent danger hanging over your head…”

“Or yours.”

“Or mine,” he qualified. “Change may be annoyingly difficult at times, but this? This is one change I’ll embrace wholeheartedly.”

“Me too. I’ll have to teach you how to sleep, though, I think. Ha, god knows I’m too good at it.”

“Nonsense, darling.” He bumped his nose into hers and brought their lips together for a tender kiss. “But of course I would never say no to a bit more time in bed with you.” The tip of his tongue probed the seam of her mouth, slipping inside to run across her teeth. “Or a little bit more.” She opened herself to him, her delighted moan clashing with his grunt of desire. They both laughed at the strange combination of sounds and Julian stepped around the counter towards the stairs, lifting Reyja’s arm over a basket of incense bundles before pulling her against his chest. “And maybe a little bit more after that.”


End file.
